Through The Eyes of Our Horror

Chapter Seven: Sleep Paralysis

Abraham stared up at the ceiling, debating whether or not to go back to sleep. He had woken suddenly, and his mind was locked in a fog. It was often that way lately. Waking up and having that momentary feeling like he didn't belong where he was. The room felt foreign to him, yet he knew it belonged to him. The ticking of the clock on the wall made him believe he was awake.

It was ambient and quiet, but he swore he heard it. It wasn't as if he had the best hearing to begin with, thanks to blasting music in his ears to block out the screams. Those blood-curdling screams that happened for exactly twenty minutes every weekend. He had to bury his own brother, and it was only then that the screams ceased. Now the ticking was replaced with a crack, as if the hand was replaced with cracking bone.

He looked around with his eyes, and there was a scene slowly unfolding in front of him. All along the walls, it appeared as if a child was drawing, and each panel was moving like a flip book. Like his brother was using sharpies to draw on his wall. Abraham winced as the boy on the wall turned to look at him, stopping what he was doing. He had been walking, but now he was moving in Abraham's direction, creeping along the wall.

His face soon distorted into a pained expression, as his pace slowed and his bones began to twist and crack and shatter. He fell to the ground in that scene, and blood trickled beyond to run down the wall. The man slowly began to crawl towards Abraham, which every broken bone was heard as clear as day. The crunching sound, and the wheezing whimpers that were expelled from him.  Abraham looked to the right, away from the image but then it appeared on the wall before him once more.

It was much larger now, and the man slammed his fists against the wall. A crack emerged and the wall opened up, allowing the man to crawl through. His wheezing and blood filled lungs filled Abraham with horror. He knew he couldn't move a muscle, his entire body felt like a hot balloon and he knew what that meant. 

He was paralyzed. 

To make matters all the more worse, the man was beginning to slowly approach Abraham. The person, or rather figment of his horrified mind, stared with dead eyes as he continued to choke and cough out thick, viscous blood. Abraham closed his eyes tight, and felt the pressure on the bed as the man came closer and closer. He could swear he felt the hot breath of the man, and heard his breaths as he grew closer. Yet when he opened his eyes, it was no longer the man, but it was the woman he had dreaded seeing.

The very reason his life turned inside out, the reason he felt disgust at the sight of a woman. Or man. He wheezed and began to hyperventilate. No, no, no, no! He screamed in his thoughts. His vocals wouldn't let him scream out loud, much to his dismay. The woman crept in closer until their faces were inches from one another.

Now he could smell her breath...and see her rotted, blood-stained teeth which were revealed by lips that were pulled back in what appears to be pain and rage. Her huge eyes only confirmed that. Her face hovered there. It almost took up the entirety of his field of few. And then, her jaws parted to speak. But no words came out, only eardrum-piercing static. Suddenly, he tore his hands from underneath the covers and touched her.

He touched her. Ohgod no. His hands touched the swollen flesh that should have been alive, but it was exactly how the police found her. Absorbed with the water she drowned herself in. Electricity flowed from her skin to his hands, and he tried to get up, but discovered he could not. 

"SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE WAKE UP!" He screamed. He didn't live alone. He lived with two roommates that should have heard his cries. Yet they did not. The door was wide open and he saw one of them walk by his room unfazed by the sound. "HEY!" 

His roommate didn't seem to notice. It was as if his screams and pleas weren't reaching him. Why didn't he hear him? His focus was quickly back on the bloated, bloody, corpse-like woman. As she continued to speak, or attempt to, blood spilled out of her mouth and onto his face. Some of the putrid blood spilled into his own mouth.

When he tried to shove her away, something changed. Suddenly, she wasn't quite so dead. Her skin was soft, and the blood seemed to dissipate. Removing his hand, Abraham stared up at her with wide eyes. She wore the exact blouse he remembered seeing her in that night. The night he could never forget, the night where his very innocence was stripped away. 

"Please, no," He whimpered, turning his head to the side as he closed his eyes tight. This couldn't be happening. 

He couldn't see her, but he could hear her voice, still. The static. She was still trying to talk to him, but it wasn't anything he could ever imagine deciphering. Yet he tried he tried his hardest to tune into what she was saying to him. The static slowly quieted to silence, and there was nothing but a quiet whisper.

One which was hard to decipher until it was right beside his ear.  A soft hand placed over his throat, and another slid under the blankets. Those soft lips placed to his cheek, and he tried to move but couldn't. Not even his fingers had the capability of twitching. Yet soon, his eyes closed and he tried to breathe through the discomfort.

It was beginning to become too much, even though he knew it wasn't real. None of it was. The lips on his skin was starting to feel like burning daggers. That static. That godawful static. It was starting to spread to where her lips touched. It was agonizing. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape from this torment. Then he felt her hand begin to trail up his abdomen to his chest, nails digging in deep as it rested just below his ribs.

"No, please no," He cried, as her hand shoved through his skin and past his ribcage. He could feel her fingers slowly wrapping around his rapidly beating heart, squeezing. Only gasping breaths were heard as she squeezed tighter and tighter, until she finally pulled the organ out.

Laughter was the only thing he could hear as his vision went black. The bedroom door burst open as his roommates finally came to his rescue. But they could only see him on the bed, alone. The woman was nowhere to be seen, and his eyes were frozen wide and petrified as his last breath was drawn.